And och, in just trying to make this list of my own literary favorites, I've come across nearly just as many that I have yet to read (really, my list is just too long!) that I'm just dying to--JaneEyre, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Middlemarch, Anna Karenina, Emma, The Adventures of TomSawyer, The LittlePrince (okay, again. I read it in French in my high school French classes), Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Lord of the Rings, The Count of Monte Cristo! And I'm in the midst of reading The Three Musketeers right now. I haven't really come across any girls' names from that, though...

My English teacher heart leaped up when I saw this thread. Love so many of what's been contributed already: I always thought Elinor/Marianne would be a lovely sibset for two sisters. And Gwendolen/Cecily are so lovely, too!

There's an out-of-print children's book that I loved as a little girl and was lucky enough to find a copy of to save and read with my own daughter(s) - "Minty's Magic Garden," with the main character named Araminta. I always thought that was a magical sounding name!

My cousin's name is Mandalay (Mandy) after the poem "On the Road to Mandalay," which I always thought was a pretty cool name inspiration.

A teacher colleague of mine has maintained for years that she will name her first daughter Hero, inspired by the Shakespeare character from "Much Ado."